Hot printing machines can be used in the printing of a wide range of substrates including paper, card and synthetic plastics material. The foil can be obtained in a wide range of colours so that the printing applied to the substrate can be in almost any desired colour.
Hot printing machines have tended either to be large, complex machines which are operated automatically or to be small, hand-operated machines whose convenience is somewhat limited. In particular, the small hand-operated machines generally have a rather limited size for the printing die and access to insert an item for printing or to remove a printed item has been rather restricted. As a result, the operation of such machines has been slow and, because of the restricted access, there is always the danger of the operator's fingers touching the hot printing die.
The invention has therefore been made with these points in mind and aims to provide a hot printing machine in which it is easier to insert and remove the items being printed.